After wading through the 288 pages of this whirlwind account, there will be some words echoing in the reader’s head:-cognitive analysis, cognitive mapping, microtargeting, eco-chamber narrative and also an ineludible question ‘are my decisions, really my decisions?’
What the fuck!! This will be the first word that comes to your mind (if you are not extremely decorous in your inner thoughts) after reading Mindfck, the book which prompted the largest data crime investigation till date. If you are a person who thinks that all the ruckus related to individual data protection and privacy, the data manipulation and crunching involving Facebook and Google are bogus and loose talks, this book might be an eye-opener. Cristopher Wylie, one of the loudest whistle blowers in history, have palpably narrated the magic of data manipulations in his simply astounding, intensely cringe-worthy book. Wylie has written the origin and growth of Cambridge Analytica, a firm which uses data specialists to collect, grind and to diligently build an algorithm to analyse the thoughts, opinions and decisions of the common mass. The hypnotic power of the media, the tools of mass communication manipulations, along with the golden words of media psychology theories such as, agenda setting, propaganda, misinformation etc. the new weapons in the arsenal of these opinion formulating firms namely, psychographic profiling, micro targeting and customised niche messages could be seen in this Wylie’s mindblower.
The book started with the accounts of this Canadian tech savvy who passionately delves into the details and the logics of the opinion formation of individuals. When he migrated to England for higher education he met with Alexander Nix who runs SNL, the predecessor of Cambridge Analytica. Once Wylie shook hands with Nix, the incredulous game of opinion moulding with the help of data was triggered. CA dug data of people from all the possible windows. Credit agencies, data brokers, and many other credible and incredible sources. Wylie and his team have formulated a way to create psychological profiles and to find the end receptor using this abundant data in their possession. As Wylie has quoted “Cambridge Analytica is no longer just a company. It’s a doorway into the minds of the American people and Mark Zuckerberg left that door open for Cambridge Analytica, the Russians and who knows how many others.” The details which unfurl in the later chapters would make your skin flood with goosebumps. If it is possible to manipulate the elections of the world irrespective of the educational and developmental achievements of that country, from Africa to Americas, then we have to admit that Wachowski brothers were partially right in their trilogy. The facebook could reach the soul of an individual, we could be manipulated, controlled and enslaved by feeding thoughts, seeding opinions and injecting ideas. Elections of the US, Brexit, and numerous other direct and indirect democratic vehicles were rerouted and guided according to the whims and fancies of few powerful, wealthy individuals.
After wading through the 288 pages of this whirlwind account, there will be some words echoing in the reader’s head:-cognitive analysis, cognitive mapping, microtargeting, eco-chamber narrative and also an ineludible question ‘are my decisions, really my decisions?’
About the Author
